


So Her Soul Can Find the Way

by CocoMingo



Category: Maleficent (2014)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Medieval, F/F, Family Secrets, Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-09-02
Updated: 2016-04-26
Packaged: 2018-02-15 22:30:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 10,178
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2245743
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CocoMingo/pseuds/CocoMingo
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>[Malora AU] The Scottish Princess Liadain, bastard daughter of Queen Aurora, has been summoned back from exile on the Isle of Iona. On her thirteenth birthday, she makes the journey home by the request of her guardian and Regent, Phillip of Ulstead. When she arrives, visions are seldom all they seem.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Girl Who No One Has Seen

**Author's Note:**

> A/N: Hello, readers! Welcome to the tale of a Scottish princess Liadain, her life thrown into upheaval by the celebration of her thirteenth birthday. She is brought back to the palace from a lonely childhood on the Isle of Iona to be taught to rule by her Queen’s Regent and guardian. As usual, visions are seldom what they seem… 
> 
> Chapter Soundtrack:  
> Across the Universe of Time, Hayley Westenra

**__ **

**_“_ ** **She was conceived after her mother swallowed**

**a star that had fallen into her mouth while sleeping,**

**and her beauty burned brighter than the heavens themselves.”**

**_– excerpt from the Celtic tale of Liadain_ ** ****  
  


* * *

 

 

Princess Liadain sat in the horse litter cross-legged, tucking her heavy skirts primly around her. Even though the winds outside blew bitterly into the curtained hack, a bead of sweat rolled down her neck and between her shoulders. The two bouts of boat travel between the Isle of Iona and Fionnphort on the Isle of Mull, and then from Fionnphort and the capitol city of Òban had made her ill at ease. She couldn’t remember a time that she didn’t live in the Abbey at Iona with the Abbess.

 

It was a terribly lonely childhood – she’d been surrounded by the extremely devout Christian monks and nuns, most of whom had taken vows of silence. It made it difficult to learn to speak and write her own language, but she had eventually managed. Once she’d learned that, Liadain quickly mastered the Holy language. Whenever she would write to her Queen’s Regent, he would write back in the same. Once, the abbess had burnt the letter, telling Liadain that the pride shown in the letter for her advancement was sinful. It was times like those that made Liadain resentful of her situation in this life.

 

Her mother Queen Aurora had found herself pregnant without having been married thirteen years and seven months ago. Strong of character and more beautiful than a highland rose, the Queen was nevertheless weakened by the princess’s difficult birth. She died only days after Liadain was born, refusing even to name the girl child’s sire to her Confessor to absolve herself before passing.

 

For the blameless sin of her birth, Liadain had been shut away on Iona ever since. Being born much earlier than normal babies had made the Princess weak in constitution. Her legs were long and spindly, and her arms just as gawky. Some days, she felt like a weak filly dressed up to appear like a strong and bonny lass.

 

Though she was unusually tall and prone to spells of faintness, Liadain’s face was apparently “classically beautiful.” At least, that’s what she’d been told. The nursemaid that had gone to Iona with her would often brush the Princess’s dark golden hair and tell her how it shone like bronze, or that her eyes were like the peridot gems that men would sometimes come across in the high mountain passes. Unfortunately, when the woman had died from consumption when she was but a wee lass, no one had been sent to replace her.

 

“I’ve ne’er seen a child sit so very still and quiet, nor look so very old,” sneered the noblewoman sent to fetch her that sat on the other side of the litter. Muireann was old, and had a foul soul.

 

Liadain could sense these attributes in people, and had ever since she could remember. Wincing at the jab, her back pressed even harder against her side of the litter. She couldn’t get far enough away from the woman who seemed to analyze her every breath.

 

Muireann cocked her head slightly when she realized that Liadain wasn’t replying. “You’re a strange child, you are,” the elderly redhead declared. Musing her lips, she continued the diatribe. “Your lips are too full, and your cheeks too high. The Lord got all sixes and sevens when He made you. It’s like He couldn’t decide who you should look like since your mother wouldn’t tell,” the cruel noblewoman laughed drily. “Mayhaps you’ll grow into them.”

 

In response, Liadain bit at her lips and pressed them together in a scowl. Closing her eyes, she rested her face in her palms and attempted not to cry.

 

“Well, don’t you care to know about your new home then?” came another pricking question from the insufferable Lady who was attempting to begin a conversation in all the wrong ways.

 

Her temper finally getting the best of her, Liadain straightened and spoke. _“It doesn’t matter_ if I care or not _._ There I go, according to the cares of everyone else but me, _”_ she seethed.

Muireann had the good sense to look away from the Princess’s glare. “Well, you’re right. I doubt your Queen’s Regent cares much for you, either,” she informed snidely.

 

Liadain had no idea if he did – the Abbess had forbidden her to write directly to her Regent after the incident with the sin of Pride. It was just after dusk, and the rising moon cast a pall on the highlands as they rode on. As she peeked out the curtained door, the Princess was not surprised to see nary a citizen out to greet her. She was, after all, quite the shame. Perhaps nobody had even bothered to tell the peasantry that their Queen-to-be was returning to reside at the castle again.

 

As the litter crested a ridge, there was an inky blackness toward the horizon. Squinting her eyes, Liadain could tell that it was a wall of thorns – oddly placed and without the beauty of a leaf or a rose. Beyond it, the night seemed darker still, like there was something keeping out the light. “Are the highlands always so ugly?” she muttered to herself.

 

Chortling, Muireann shook her head as if Liadain were daft. “That’s the Moors. O’course it’s ugly. Nothing grows there now but scrubby brush and stubborn Rowan trees. ‘Twas once beautiful, overflowing with the Fair Folk. One in particular used to be its Protector, Maleficent.” Pausing for effect, the woman clawed her hands in a monstrous gesture. “She was a fairy, y’see? A sorrowful and bitter character if ever there was one. Nobody has seen her since much a ‘fore the Queen of the Two Kingdoms died. Where once there was light now lives darkness, and the wall of thorns rises once more. Ah well,” she waved her now unfurled hands as if it were no matter.

 

Curious, Liadain turned around to stare out the back window of the litter at the Wall. “The Queen of the Two Kingdoms, you say? Was that my mother?” she asked softly.

 

Her voice softened considerably in respect for the girl’s tragic circumstances, the noblewoman continued her education of the Princess. “Aye. Your mother was a sweet, pretty thing. The Fair Folk love sweet, pretty things… so it’s no wonder they loved your mother as their Queen. She often sent Maleficent to negotiate with unruly enemies that sought to invade the kingdom’s borders. The Protector would have flown the world o’er to please Queen Aurora, and did. When she returned after a long trip to find her Queen dead, it made Maleficent more sour than ever.”

 

“I know she was quite the acrimonious character,” Liadain conversed. She’d heard tales of the dark fairy’s curse on her mother when she was just a baby.

 

Realizing that she was granting the Princess a touch of kindness, Muireann’s voice turned cold once more. “Well, never mind that. Look out your window once more – the far lights atop the hill? That’ll be the castle.” She settled herself, studiously ignoring Liadain’s presence once more.

 

The only reason the Queen’s bastard had been allowed back from Iona was because the Regent’s wife had died suddenly – leaving Phillip of Ulstead with no children, and no wife. The farmers and peasants had long whispered about a curse on the woman’s womb for the ill treatment of their Princess.

 

* * *

 

 

Upon entering the dark and echoing palace reception room, the Princess and her minder were surprised to find not Phillip, but his brother Tristan, the Exchequer. The tall and imposing man stood three stairs down from the throne dais, with arms folded stiffly behind his back.

 

“Ah, it’s about time Lady Muireann. We were beginning to be worried. Please escort the Princess to her chambers, as His Highness Prince Phillip does not wish to see her,” Tristan informed the woman. He did not turn his attention to Liadain, nor address her directly.

 

“Very good sir,” Muireann curtsied and motioned for the young woman to follow behind her.

 

At the end of many twists and turns of a long hallway off the great hall, they found themselves outside a heavy wooden door. As Liadain entered the room carefully, the noblewoman slammed the door shut with a sternly worded goodnight. The princess spun around to tug on the door handle, only to hear it being locked from the outside.

 

She’d never been locked up anywhere before – only sent away. The feeling of being held somewhat of a prisoner made her more uneasy than the boats or the litter combined, and Liadain pounded harshly against the door. “Eh! What if I need the privy during the night?” she called. There was no answer.

 

Groaning, Liadain made her way around the room, cataloguing her surroundings. Satisfied that this was indeed a bedchamber and not a prison cell by the sumptuous linens and fine furniture, it only served to confuse her more regarding the Lady’s actions earlier. Were they so afraid that she would run away?

 

The thought was humorous to her, especially as she felt her knees weakening from the long litter-ride and subsequent walk to her room. Leaning back to sit on the dressing table’s stool, the princess looked in the mirror and cursed her body’s feebleness. Poking at her cheeks in frustration and biting her lips once again, she grumbled, “Happy thirteenth birthday Lia, indeed.”

 

Taming her hair quickly with the boar’s bristle brush that had lain atop the table, she slid out of her black cotehardie overdress and folded it neatly at the end of the bed, not bothering to change out of her embroidered shift. Peeling back the heavy duvet, Liadain finally climbed in and rested her head on the pillows.

 

While saying her prayers, she fumbled with the talisman sent with her to Iona that hung around her neck – apparently the last of her mother’s possessions that weren’t absorbed back into the palace coffers. Lia’s fingers brushed the short brown feather threaded onto the leather and amber beaded necklace and fell into a deep, exhausted sleep.

 

_Liadain walked purposefully in sparkling green grasses, careful not to trample the lovely blooms of many colors that lined her path. This was her favorite dream, and the princess knew it well._

_She could feel her mother just out of her reach, the woman’s gentle laughter echoing off the tall trees and cliffs. A waterfall cascaded into a lake just beyond the bend, and there would be an island in the middle._

_As her dream-self made the pass around the vantage point, Liadain smiled triumphantly. There, standing on the lake’s island reachable by stepping-stones was a glowing, golden woman. Her hair was the same color as her dress, and all manner of strange creature danced and chattered around her._

_“Come to me, Lia,” she would say as always, holding her arms forward as if to embrace the girl who was still at least an eighth of a kilometer away on the hill. Still, it sounded like her mother was speaking through the muggy, thick air of a hot summer’s day rather than simply being far away._

_Liadain walked forward, inwardly wishing that this juncture of the dream would change, but it never did. The closer she would get to the lake; the faster her mother began to fade. The radiant Queen’s edges would shimmer as though she were a mirage, and then altogether disappear in a fog. “Come, my sweet child…” the voice would command as it became disembodied._

_Instead of waking as she usually did, Liadain kept walking towards the lake. As she did so, her feet began to get lighter and lighter. By the time she had reached the water’s edge, the Princess felt like she was floating. A queer sensation shivered through Liadain’s chest, and then the feeling turned to an awful burning inside her very heart to rush down her arms and legs. The princess began to cry for her mother, plaintive weeping filling the air. “Oh, but it hurts! Make it stop!”_

Gasping for air, Liadain sat up in bed. Tears streamed down her face, and she wiped them away quickly while looking out the window. It was still dark outside, the stars bright in the night sky.

 

Without warning, a mournful, lamenting wail echoed the hallways. The hair on the back of her neck rose, and Lia began to shiver.   Was the palace haunted?

 

Reaching a trembling hand inside her shift to drag her talisman back out, she pointed the ragged feather in the direction she thought the crying had come from. The sobbing only repeated itself, sounding even closer and louder this time. Distressed, Liadain crossed herself and began to pray.

 

When the howling did not cease even in the name of the Lord, the young woman threw herself back under the blankets and covered her head with a pillow. “Go! Go away, spirit!” she ordered, her teeth chattering.

 

* * *

 

Waking after a very frightening evening, Liadain felt just as exhausted as before. Even so, she quickly dressed in what some of the handmaids brought her and allowed them to fix her hair. She was surprised when they walked her through an unlocked door down to a private dining room where the Exchequer sat with whom she assumed was Prince Phillip.

 

When she walked into the room, her guardian rose and gave her a small bow. He refused to look up from his plate however, and seemed to wilt as he sat back down.

 

Returning the gesture with her own curtsey, Liadain sat where the staff bid her. Luckily, it was to Prince Phillip’s right. It would make for easy conversation. She turned slowly towards who she assumed was her Regent, who was currently wiping his pallid face with a napkin. Leaning forward, Lia spoke softly. “Are you… Are you Prince Phillip of Ulstead, my guardian?”

 

The man nodded a brown-bearded face, his blue eyes looking anywhere but into hers. “I am,” he confirmed, before stabbing at a sausage with his eating knife. After chewing it thoroughly and swallowing, he addressed her once more while studiously examining the tabletop. “And you are Liadain, Princess of this kingdom. I am sorry to say that I could not prepare a better welcome for you yesterday evening. You are,” he paused, taking a deep breath before going on, “I hear that you are as beautiful as the watchers on Iona told me, but you sound quite tired. Did you not sleep well?”

 

Liadain blushed under her guardian’s avoidance of her countenance. “I beg your pardon, sir. I didn’t sleep well at all. Someone kept crying outside in the halls all night long. Is the palace rife with ghosts? Is my mother a ghost?”

 

Tristan leaned in, interjecting. “Why, of course not! How preposterous… Ghosts and spirits in this castle?” he sputtered a laugh.

 

Phillip held a hand up to his brother in a request for silence. “People are only ghosts when the living seek to hold onto them, my Lady. Was it a woman’s voice you heard?” he asked softly, while nodding his chin towards a sergeant at arms by the dining room’s door. At the nod, the man was off to some duty, with bells on.

 

“Yes, ‘twas a woman,” Lia responded, her heart thudding in foreboding. Had Prince Phillip heard the howling, too?

 

Painfully slow, the Prince turned his blue eyes to stare at Liadain’s directly. He gave a startle and gasped lightly under his breath. “Your eyes…”

 

The Princess shrunk back in her chair from the man’s tortured expression. “My eyes, sir?” she questioned back. What was it with the people of the palace being offended by the very sight of her?

 

“They’re _green_ ,” the Prince wheezed, rising quickly to back away from the table. “Aurora’s eyes were blue. Your eyes were blue when you were a baby,” he stammered nervously.

 

Ignoring the urge to roll her eyes, Liadain sniffed and looked away. “Aren’t all babies’ eyes blue when they’re born, my Lord?”

 

Prince Phillip laughed mirthlessly and wiped at his face with a hand. “Aye, I suppose.” Snapping his fingers towards a page, he began to bark out orders suddenly. “Go and fetch my luggage. I am off on procession… Now, man. Now!”

 

The page scuttled off quickly at the Prince’s shouting. Standing up, Liadain was alarmed by the man’s unpredictable behavior. “My Lord, I am sorry if my face affronts you. But please… I’ve only just met you! Won’t you take me with?” The idea of being left alone with the Exchequer was anything but pleasant.

 

“I think the road is not a place for a Lady such as you, Princess,” Phillip snapped, walking out of the dining room without so much as a goodbye.

 

* * *

 

 

After the morning’s debacle, Liadain returned to her bedchamber to worry. Sitting by the fireplace, she tried to focus on the book in her hands, but found it terribly hard to calm herself. It was nearly impossible to read more than a few words at a time before becoming distracted by her thoughts once more.

 

A servant let herself in a side door hidden beneath a tapestry before curtseying to the Princess. The young woman plunked a pair of riding boots near the Princess’s feet and brushed at a riding habit slung over one arm while waiting to be noticed.

 

Turning her eyes from the page, Liadain looked at the woman and motioned for the maid to introduce herself.

 

The brunette woman grinned madly and moved her hands excitedly for the Princess to rise. “I’m Maire, your personal handmaid. Now Princess, you must’nt stay inside all day. There’s so much of the countryside to explore!”

 

The insinuation of a maid telling her what to do rankled the Princess, and she snorted indelicately. “No, thank you. Besides, in case you can’t tell – my legs aren’t very good for adventuring.”

 

The maid ignored the girl’s insult to her intelligence and walked over to the window, pointing outside while she spoke. “If I’d been given a fine white horse by my guardian to ride all over, you know I’d be outside. Unfortunately, I have much work to do here. Muireann was going on this morning at the noble’s breakfast how you were curious about the Moors! Have you lost your interest so soon?”

 

“No!” Lia bit back at the over talkative maid. Standing up despite herself, she moved towards the woman and snatched at the clothing.

 

Maire raised her eyebrows, pleased that she’d elicited such a reaction. Smiling, she tugged back at the riding habit and spun her hand in a silent request for the Princess to allow her assistance in dressing. Liadain stiffened at the invitation, and the servant huffed good-naturedly. “Don’ be shy now, milady. I’ll be dressin’ you from now on; you might as well get used to the idea.”

 

As Liadain acquiesced begrudgingly, the woman set about her work. As she pinned an underskirt onto the princess, Maire spoke in a hush. “They say the Moors are a place that once you enter, there you stay. If I weren’t so afraid, I’d go with you. But tales of talking birds and fairies keep me scared away.”

 

Liadain held the front of the dress closed and giggled as Maire began to lace it shut. “Talking birds, truly?” Her tone was disbelieving.

 

“Mmhmm,” intoned the maid mischievously. “Not that I ‘twas supposed to say nothin’ ‘bout it. The Moors are full of mysteries, but no one can get past the Wall of thorns. Mayhaps you can find a way in.”

 

Laughing full on now, the princess stood back to allow Maire to slip the riding boots onto her shaky legs while grasping at the back of a chair for stability. “You’re mad, woman. Birds don’t talk – and besides, if no one else can find their way into the Moors, why should I?”

 

Maire rose back up from her duties and brushed her hands together. “Why, milady… You’re the daughter of the Queen of the Moors! Who else would the land welcome but you?” At no quick retort from her charge, she pushed the young princess gently towards the door. “I trust you can find your way to the stables yourself? I’ve much to do in here while you’re outside.”

 

* * *

 

Liadain rode her friendly white mare, ambling pleasantly through the hillocks of the highlands. It took a good half-hour to reach her destination, and she cut through a farm closest to the Wall of thorns. She pulled the horse to a stop a few yards from the sharp edged barrier and dismounted clumsily while tying the steed to a nearby tree.

 

Pulling her cloak’s hood up, she shivered. It was so very cold, the stretch between autumn and winter causing frost to coat the dead leaves on the field and over the thorns themselves. She tilted her head back and shielded her eyes to look upon the Wall, amazed at its height and breadth. How could anyone hope to get through? The princess shook her dark blonde curls in disappointment. Still, something niggled at the back of her mind – a whisper of a memory. _‘Touch it. Touch it, I say,’ the ethereal voice commanded._

 

Nervously, Liadain reached forward to grasp at the base of a thorn. It lurched forward towards her, and she yelped in surprise and removed her hand. The motion of the thorn had thrown her off balance, and she tripped and fell to the hard ground with a cry of pain.

 

Where she’d touched the Wall, it grew thicker before her very eyes. Well, if that wasn’t a clue, Liadain didn’t know what was. The Wall didn’t want her inside.


	2. I Heard Someone Crying

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: For those of you who read chapter 1 and got worried that you wouldn’t see enough of Maleficent/Aurora interactions, let me put you at ease: there will be many of them in flashback form. This chapter may give you an idea of how that’s going to go down.
> 
> Chapter Soundtrack:
> 
> Evidence of Beauty, Celtic Harp Orchestra  
> Dark Waltz, Hayley Westenra  
> Close Your Eyes, Meav

 

 

**“Close your eyes, my love, my own  
My precious child, mo stóirín**

**The summer will come with warmth and sun**  
 **The grainy leaves are growing**  
 **Softly sleep while watch I keep**  
 **The breezes gently blowing**

**Dún do shúil, a rún mo chroí**

**_Close your eyes, oh love of my heart_ **

**A chuid den tsaol, 's a ghrá liom**

**_My worldly joy, my treasure_ **

**Dún do shúil, a rún mo chroí**

**_Close your eyes, oh love of my heart_ **

**Agus gheobhair feirín amárach**

**_And you will get a present tomorrow"_ **

 

 

 

 

* * *

Bronze curls tossed to and fro as a thin body moved beneath the covers. Liadain bit back a curse as she woke once more, cold to the bone. Autumn changes quickly into winter on the Scottish highlands, and while she was used to harsh weather from living on Iona for so long, the awful snowstorms here were quite another thing. The drafty castle did nearly nothing to keep the seeping dampness and biting, icy breezes from reaching her delicate form.

 

As the princess rose from the bed to gather another fur from the stack near the fireplace, the palace halls reverberated with the ethereal sobbing she’d long grown used to. Every time Liadain brought up the subject of the crying, she was brushed off with yet another excuse or explanation. Most often, it was blamed on the winds that whipped through the Moors to haunt the entire countryside. It wasn’t plausible: if the entire kingdom were kept awake by the howling as she was, the masses would have surely gone insane long ago.

 

Tossing the fur onto the end of the bed in frustration, Liadain turned towards the horrible noise that echoed once more. She’d never get back to sleep tonight; between the piteous lachrymose and the blizzard that raged outside, it was an impossible feat. The princess muttered to herself under her breath as she shoved her feet into slippers and lit a candle. The front door to her bedchamber was locked as it was every night by Muireann, but Maire always left the servant’s door unlocked. Sending a silent prayer of thanks upon Maire, Liadain slipped underneath the tapestry and through the hidden passage.

 

“Where are you?” she demanded of the spirit that insisted on keeping her roused. While she held the candlestick aloft in the dark, the keening seemed to answer her. Steeling herself, Liadain limped towards the sound. Round corners and up stairs she wandered, following the call of sadness and despair deeper than the pits of Hell. As she went farther, the route smelled dank and dirty. Spider webs hung from the corners of the stone ceiling.

 

Liadain paused to catch her breath at what appeared to be the end of this corridor, but it was hard to breathe in the stale air. She sneezed and rested her back on the wall to rub at her knees that were aching awfully. The force of her leaning dislodged a partition behind her, and the Princess stood and turned with excitement at her find. Pushing the swollen wood entrance open, it grated against the stone casing, and she looked around to check for anyone who might have heard her. It wasn’t likely at this time of night, though.

 

Beyond was a grand bedchamber, and Liadain stopped to light a few dusty candles that littered the center table, allowing her eyes to adjust. The space seemed dead, like a spell had been cast upon it; the front door stone-and-mortared shut. A filthy set of lead glass windows lined one wall, and afforded some very dim light from the stars and moon. One of the huge panes swung wildly in the winds, snapping against its hinges. She walked over to shut and latch it against the gales, and was glad to see the snow had finally let up.

 

Squinting, Lia looked at her surroundings. A thick layer of dust covered the furniture's draping, and she went about removing them to toss in a corner. Once she’d finished, her eyes danced happily at the handsome grouping of cherry wood tables, desks, and overstuffed velvet settees. The large bed was canopied with a navy and gold tester, and the duvet matched. Curiously, there were two matching dressing tables – one right next to the other. Atop them were matching sets of ladies’ grooming kits, carved ivory combs and silver brushes.

 

Her knees knocking in combined weakness and anticipation, Liadain sat at the table to the left. Hands hovered lovingly over the precious possessions, and finally caressed them with the lightest of touches. It was as if the ladies who lived in this room had merely gone away to dinner and not returned.

 

Leaning back, she opened the center drawer to the dressing table and gasped. Inside were numerous necklaces, bracelets, cuffs and rings. They weren’t so much beautiful as they were strange and different. An ivory cuff set was the most pleasing to her eye, and she picked one of the chunky bracelets up to examine the delicate carvings more closely. As she did so, Liadain ran her fingers over the sharp relief of the design. She wished that she had the ability to compel the cuff to give up their secrets like the old druids used to say they could. Now, there were no more druids – or at the very least they’d gone into hiding. There were even more secrets in this world now that the priests of old could no longer decipher them for you.

 

Smiling to herself, she placed the jewelry back into the drawer and shut it. Her gleaming green gaze roamed across the other clues to the puzzle on top of the table. A glass vial still had some amber colored liquid in it, and Liadain un-stoppered it to sniff the scent. She quickly wished she hadn’t; the perfume was obviously old and had become ridiculously concentrated. The smell permeated the air around her as she coughed. Now thoroughly saturated with an aroma like the forest on a spring day mixed with burning wood and cloying incense, the Princess rapidly stoppered the bottle and consigned it back to its place.

 

Lia’s hands clasped the last thing on this dresser, a squat glass container capped in filigreed silver. Unscrewing it, she was disappointed to find rather uninteresting rouge lipstain, and plunked it back down. Her back was beginning to ache from sitting on the stool, and she rose to stretch while turning to her right. There along the wall hung the most intricate portrait she’d ever seen.

 

Rushing to the wall, she drank in the woman’s face greedily while running her hands down the gilded wood frame. “Mother…” Liadain whispered, her eyes pricking with tears.

 

The Queen stared back in perpetual happiness from the painting, her fine brow and blue eyes twinkling with mischievousness. Delicately bowed lips held the hint of a smile, and a lively crown of pearls had been painted in sunshine gold curls done up in splendid braids and twists. Lia decided then and there: Her Lady Mother Aurora was the most gorgeous woman that had ever lived.

 

Behind her, the windowpanes began to rattle fiercely. Stunned, Liadain spun to look at them. A black hooded spectre scraped its claws down the glass panes and screeched it’s malcontent at being locked out, and the Princess screamed in terror.

 

Tripping over her feet in a hurry, she scrambled through the servant’s door into the passageway once more, running as fast as her legs would carry her. It wasn’t very swiftly at all, and Lia cried out in panic that the vengeful spirit might be just behind her.

 

* * *

 

Muireann launched out of her bed with fright at the excruciatingly pained shrieks of the palace ghost. The unbearable spirit often moaned and called out during the night, but she had never heard it make this particular noise before. It set her heart to racing, especially as she heard the clamoring footsteps of the guards as they raced towards it and past her chamber.

 

For years, the noblewoman had dared to hope that the ghost was not that of her dearest friend the Queen, but between its recent upturn in activity since the Princess had arrived and the plainly tortured screams that rang afresh tonight, she was convinced. It was all the blasted child’s fault: if Liadain hadn’t been conceived by whatever passing fancy Aurora had set her sight on, she would not have died in mortal sin.   Muireann’s heart burned with guilt as well – though haughty, she knew that she was partly the reason that the Queen may have dallied with someone other than…

 

Another howl sounded, and seemed to shake the palace to its very foundation. The woman threw a robe over her shift and raced into the hall as she remembered.

 

_Aurora paced her way around the bedchamber, alight with exuberant bliss. Maleficent had returned from the Moors to stay at the palace as she typically did during the peaceful interludes between negotiations. After debriefing the Queen’s council on the welfare of the citizens and farms she’d travelled by, the great Fae had flown off once more for a quick jaunt. Lord only knew what the fairy did during her private time in the clouds._

_“Well, my Queen! You’re in quite the jolly mood,” Muireann commented, throwing a smirk towards the petite blonde who was impatiently watching the skies._

_The Queen stopped to grasp at Muireann’s hand, clutching it tightly. “I… I cannot bear to keep it a secret from you. You’re my best friend,” Aurora squealed._

_The maid of honor glanced upwards. “I’m your best human friend, you mean,” she joked._

_Aurora nodded, her cheeks pinking at the insinuation. “Then you shouldn’t be surprised when I say that Maleficent has proposed a joining of our kingdoms,” she lobbed back, her tone just as playful._

_Muireann rolled her eyes. “You’ve already joined the two kingdoms. Whatever are you going on about?”_

_“You know… marriage,” Aurora murmured, her sapphire eyes glittering with delight._

_Dropping her friend’s hand like it was a hot coal, Muireann stood and backed away. “Your Majesty!” she yelped. “You… you mustn’t. It’s not natural!”_

_Looking at the hand that had been refused, Aurora frowned, and her expression darkened. “What is ever natural in regards to anything surrounding my life? I love her; I live for her. Our hearts beat as one.”_

_“You can’t just marry Maleficent, my Queen! She’s a fairy! You cannot simply domesticate her. You must set her free!” Muireann trilled._

_Aurora turned her nose up at her Lady’s Maid. “No one is asking for your approval,” she glowered stubbornly. “I will marry her!”_

_Muireann shook her head vehemently as she cowered against her Queen and friend’s sudden temper. “Don’t do this, I beg you. Don’t wed her, Aurora._ _If you don't care what happens to you, think about children. How would you have children? It’s not as if she’s bedded you and you’re forced by honor to follow through.”_

_The Queen turned away then, her chin dipping slightly in embarrassment._

_“N-no! How could you, Majesty… Your honor and virtue! Oh, I knew that it was a bad idea for her to stay in here with you when she came to visit,” the horrified Lady bellowed, pointing at the canopied bed like it was a snake. “And what about Prince Phillip? He’s been asking to court you for years, and you’ve always put the deprived, dumbstruck fool off. The poor man!”_

_The room darkened with the shadow of a tall, horned figure, and Muireann turned slowly towards it. Maleficent stood in the doorway, her red lips twisted into a ferocious snarl. Her wings seemed to grow larger as the feathers fluffed in ire._

_Crossing the room in only a few long strides, the fairy hugged at Aurora and tucked the tiny human Queen behind her. “Be gone from my sight!” she hissed at the vile woman that had been attempting to poison Aurora’s mind away from her devotion._

Muireann ran.

 

She gasped for breath, only stopping to rest at the far end of the palace. The tapestry next to her suddenly flipped up and the hidden door opened, revealing a filthy, bawling Princess Liadain.

 

The daughter of Aurora tugged on her sleeves. “Oh, thank God! Lady Muireann, I heard someone crying and…”

 

Blind rage filled the woman at the sight of the creature who had stolen her best friend away from this world. Plucking the Princess up by her ear, Muireann fumed. “It’s the wind! Nobody is crying, you stupid girl… How are you out of your room?” _She must not know._

 

“Oww! Stop, you’re hurting me!” Liadain squalled and dragged her feet.

 

The insolence only made Muireann tug harder.

 

Lia clawed at the Lady’s hand on her ear. “I said stop it!” she hollered when the woman kept pulling her down the hall. The tension between the two exploded with an ear shattering bang as the Princess shouted, “Enough!”

 

Muireann was thrown against the opposite wall, her eyes wide at the normally frail lass. It was as if she were tossed like a doll in a tantrum. Liadain’s eyes were wild, a hazel gleam shooting through the teal.

 

Down the gallery, the castle guards marched towards them. Once the men had reached the scene of the scuffle, their leader addressed the frazzled Lady. “Milady, is everything all right? We heard shouting during our search,” he inquired, sounding concerned.

 

Pointing a shaking finger at the Princess, Muireann did the only thing she knew how – she lied. “The vicious little thing is disobedient, Captain. Have your men lock her in her bedchamber, immediately. Make sure there is no way she can escape.”

 

Turning away, she closed her eyes to the sight of the men restraining the Princess, and shut her ears to the clang of armor and screams of betrayal as the girl was hauled off.

 

* * *

 

Tristan trotted his stallion to where he knew the Prince would be when Phillip did not meet him from his procession at a nearby nobleman’s estate for a stag hunt. As he approached the bent figure in the distance, the Exchequer sighed in annoyance.

 

By the north side of the Wall of thorns, Queen Aurora’s cairn stood. As Queen of two kingdoms, it had only been fair to bury her next to the border. Phillip crouched in the snow; his face forlorn and haggard as he arranged and rearranged the many small rocks that subjects would place on the monarch’s grave as they passed.

 

Dismounting, Tristan stood a few feet away from Phillip and cleared his throat to await an explanation.

 

“Last night, I dreamt of visiting Aurora in the Moors like I used to after her coronation. I saw Maleficent and Aurora standing there, as they always had… just like it was yesterday,” the Regent began, his voice cracking with stress. “Liadain was with them, and she’d grown tall and strong. ‘Rora turned to me and said… D’you know what she said?” he guffawed, sounding unhinged.

 

“No,” Tristan replied drily, distaste for the subject matter showing plainly on his face.

 

Nodding, Phillip rambled on. “She asked my forgiveness, Tristan. _My_ forgiveness, as if I wasn’t the one who sent her daughter to live on the farthest piece of rock I could throw her to.”

 

His elder brother grit his teeth and kicked at a stone disrespectfully. “I’m sure it wasn’t all that bad, nor your fault.”

 

“You don’t understand, Tristan. I pushed the council to forbid Aurora to marry the fairy if I didn’t have my chance first. It’s why she flew that last trip. She gave me six months to change Aurora’s mind…” Phillip groaned, sitting in the snow now. “At the end, she was gone. I never did change her mind… and I was mad with grief for it. I knew that Maleficent would think I was the one who’d gotten her on with child. So I sent Liadain away, and that was that. Now, the cursed fairy haunts us nightly.”

 

Tristan peered down at the sorry lump of a man left slightly unbalanced from lack of sleep and the recent death of his wife. “I tell you, man. It’s the wind through the Moors – not the fairy. It’s not the Queen either, no matter what Muireann is going on about. It’s just the damn wind. Your guards find nothing when you send them on the wild chases.” Pausing to brush at the beard that grew from his chin thoughtfully, the Ulstead nobleman regarded Phillip again. “You’re absolutely sure that the little bastard isn’t yours?”

 

Phillip seemed intensely affronted by the question, folding in on himself and scowling. “As I’ve said for thirteen damned years – _no. And I've no idea who, so don't ask.”_ His hand caressed the cairn as if to soothe the long dead Queen from offense as well. “Y’know, I may be guilty, but I heard Muireann tried to leave the baby on the windowsill to catch cold when she was born. The midwife noticed and swaddled her next to Aurora, but it was too late. She slipped into a sleep that none of us could rouse her from, and died only a few days later.  Such a waste,” he muttered.

 

* * *

 

 

_Aurora’s eyes were blurry from exhaustion, and sweat beaded upon her brow to roll down her face despite the chilly morning air. Reaching out, she searched for her baby. “Where is it? Give me my baby,” she pleaded. Her body felt so heavy, like an anchor being thrown in the sea._

_Muireann stood off near the window, refusing to look at her. The baby bawled for Aurora, and the Queen's breasts ached at the need to do what nature intended._

_The midwife trudged back into the room from the hall with a stack of clean linens, unexpectedly dropping them to beat at Muireann’s arm with a fist. “How dare you?” the wise woman scorned the Lady. “She may be without a da’, but she’s just a wee bairn!” She snatched the babe from the sill and wrapped it tightly to place against Aurora’s chest, propping the mother’s arms underneath the cocoon of blankets and squirming infant._

_Aurora smiled weakly down at her child, though her arms had gone numb minutes ago. The room was becoming faint. “Liadain, shh my Liadain,” she hushed the little Princess._

_Satisfied once the baby stopped crying and had begun to take her first nourishment, Aurora allowed her eyes to slide closed._

_It was the last time they would see this world._

 

 


	3. The Girl I Mean To Me

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N: Sorry that it took me so damn long to update, readers. Darth Real Life has been conquered, and the creative juices are flowing. Please, please review, and enjoy! <3
> 
> Chapter Soundtrack:
> 
> “Loch Etive” - Mychael Danna, Jeff Danna  
> “Awakening” - Celtic Woman

 

“She was a genius of sadness, immersing herself in it, separating its numerous strands, appreciating its subtle nuances.

She was a prism through which sadness could be divided into its infinite spectrum.” 

  
― Jonathan Safran Foer

* * *

 

 

The horrible debacle of being placed under house arrest by the palace's highest Lady rubbed Liadain's already sore heart raw. She knew what she had seen, and she knew what she heard every night. No one here would convince her otherwise that there was a very real spectre affecting this great home of her family; though if Lia had to be honest with herself, she doubted that the physical incarnation of it – however fearsome – was nothing more than a manifestation of great sorrow. Though the monks and nuns on Iona rarely spoke aloud, when they did it was with great clarity and knowledge of these sorts of things. All manner of sin, and the human emotions that drove them, could wreak havoc on not only a person's bodily constitution, but their surroundings. It was believed that illness was due to not drawing close enough to the Lord; a pox was a reward for not being faithful enough, or not atoning for one's wrongdoings.

 

However much she held these lessons as truth, in making any sense of the howls that would ring out each and every night, they only met her conclusion halfway. Surely, sin and suffering affected living things, but Liadain wasn't altogether sure if the palace's nightly chief mourner was corporeal, or merely composed of ethereal grief. It surely blanketed every surface during the short winter days, casting a gloomy pall over everything it touched. Even what should be bright, wasn't – from candles burning, to a freshly worked piece of stitching that she had done. Everything here had a grayish cast. It touched each surface, spreading the gloom with it's fresh song of sadness after the sun had gone down.

 

She pondered this for the first fortnight of her solitude, locked in her room with naught a person for company besides Maire, even though the handmaid had been forbidden from speaking to her or leaving the servants' door beneath the tapestry unlocked. Day in and day out, Lia took her punishment with a grace that surprised Maire, if her raised eyebrows and questioning eyes at the Princess's calm demeanor were any clue. The food sent in was bland, and the lowest quality that would be afforded her station of birth, but Liadain didn't mind so much. The tepid, unsweetened oatmeal and barley cakes for breakfast and simple meat and vegetable stews for dinner were still far better than she ate on Iona. There she ate what was given her by the Abbess, and though courtly priests often grew fat on their diets of fatty game animals and little physical work, the lowly monks and nuns of Christendom feasted on ashes in comparison. Some even did precisely that, as an act of penance – sprinkling their food with ashes from the fire so that it did not taste palatable, reminding them of the starving folk and warning against gluttony.

 

Meditating long on these types of deeply religious displays saw Lia chewing more slowly, and eating less. It wasn't as though she needed to eat a lot to keep up her energy cooped up in her chamber. During a particularly quiet and thoughtful morning, she was surprised to find her main door open quickly, the hinges snapping and creaking from disuse. Even more surprising was who was behind it – a stormy looking Muireann, her arms crossed with ill temper.

 

Lia rose as quickly as possible from her chair, coughing down a shout at the interruption. She also swallowed frustration, her cheeks warming in embarrassment at Muireann's eyes following Lia's breakfast napkin as it wafted to the floor, having fallen from her lap in her haste. While mirroring Muireann's stance and posture, Liadain decided to go a step further, tucking her hands beneath the edge of her voluminous sleeves, rather than over them like a spiteful child. She had vowed long ago that her weeks of good behavior would not be spoiled merely due to the eventual arrival of the Lady Muireann. The woman of course would be the one to judge her ready to rejoin the household.

 

At Liadain's silence and obedience, Muireann raised a thin eyebrow to hide her evident shock. Her lips pursed in distaste, and pleasantries went flying out the window at the realization that she would not have reason to keep the Princess locked away further. Instead, she used cruelty as conveyance for what ought to have been polite conversation.

 

“You're too skinny,” the Lady declared, smirking mildly in provocation.

 

Her heart burning with indignation at the insult, Lia fought the urge to be smart mouthed. “I've not had much reason to eat to excess, my Lady Muireann. 'Twould be a shame to waste food, when I've not done much else than needlework, praying, or sleeping.”

 

“Indeed, and that changes today,” Muireann responded crisply, gesturing behind her shoulder with a jerk of her chin. “Your guardian returns from his progress this day, and wishes you away from the keep while he settles in once more.”

 

A rather pleased grin crossed Muireann's lips, and she continued. “Maire has informed the stables to have your horse saddled, and a knight of good standing will accompany you as chaperon along the countryside.”

 

An entire day in the Highlands loomed both as frightening and exciting in Liadain's mind, and before Muireann could change her mind on the subject, she bobbed the quickest curtsy possible. Murmuring her goodbye, she rushed as fast as her teetering, hobbled legs would go, and slipped out of the chamber door.

 

Down the long stone corridor, an open doorway shone with the promise of the sun.

 

* * *

 

 

Riding along the crests and hillocks far from Oban, Lia breathed the latest of many sighs of relief. While the breeze was cool, the blue skies and sunshine felt warm on her upturned face. Her white horse plodded along merrily, and seemed just as happy as she to escape the confines of the castle keep.

 

The knight that had followed at a respectable distance chuckled low under his breath, and coughed a wizened word or two before calling out. “Do you search the skies, Princess?”

 

“And what would be in the skies for me to search for?” Liadain laughed, and smiled. “No, I am merely enjoying the blessing of the sun.”

 

While stroking his grey beard thoughtfully, the knight nodded and changed the subject. “Ah, then. An Giblean1 is breathing her first breath into Spring. The Paps of 'Anu2 are well in bloom, where I come from.”

 

Ears perking at the tidbit of information, Lia turned in her saddle to face the gentleman. “Where... you're from? Are not the Paps of 'Anu far south of here, on the shores of Eire?”

 

“They be that, my Princess,” the elder knight agreed. “Far, far away. But Danu knows when Spring comes, and Her flight is swift.”

 

At the mention of the Old Gods, Liadain pressed her lips together. It would do no good to offend the kind man keeping her company by reminding him that worshiping the land was now forbidden. After all, the knight was en-serviced to Prince Phillip of Ulstead, which laid just north of the supposedly wild tribal peoples of Eire. It made sense that the man might hail from there, and she had no idea if all peoples from that land had converted. She turned forward and clucked to her white mare to increase pace, wanting to be at their destination before long.

 

Clucking at his own horse, the knight brought it alongside Liadain's. “I meant no disrespect, Princess. I jus' thought... Well, I donnae what I thought.”

 

They kept peaceful silence between them as an unspoken truce, since Liadain couldn't think of anything to placate the man's sensibilities without spouting off like the old Abbess on Iona. At times, she loathed the very black and white thinking on religion that she had been brought up to believe wholeheartedly, and at others she craved the discipline and comfort of what was done, and known to be true. But truth, Liadain surmised as she had grown older, was a far more foggy idea than philosophers and theologians gave credit.

 

As the sun rose to its zenith at noon day, the cairn of Queen Aurora was in sight.

 

“At long last!” Liadain all but yelled, her joy mixed with a tinge of sadness. Drawing up her horse's reins belied her trepidation, however happy her exclamation.

 

Slowing his own mount, the knight then shielded his eyes against the glare of the waters off Loch Etive. He dismounted first, wrapping his reins around a low lying branch so that the horse did not wander.

 

Lia could tell that he would head her way momentarily, to assist her in dismounting as was customary. For a moment, a rush of courage bolstered her resolve, and she attempted to dismount on her own. It was a bad choice, and she would have known it even if falling outright from the saddle didn't remind her. The folly gave away her lack of strength, and her clumsiness.

 

With a foot twisted in a stirrup, the Princess landed on her bum and cried foul against nature. She slapped the leg still dangling in irritation, until the knight's aged hand gently clasped her own.

 

With infinite tenderness, the old man released Lia's hand and reached to release her foot from the confines of the stirrup without a single word. He did not chastise her for not allowing him to fulfill his duty, nor for her weakness. His eyes turned towards the cairn, and he shuffled forward to kneel at the base. From within his leather jerkin, he produced a purple flower of little value, probably plucked that very morning from nearby the castle.

 

To a nobleman the offering was but a weed, but it melted Lia's heart away from her own anger, and shifted her attention to the importance of this place to her mother's people. She stood, and brushed the dirt from her skirts.

 

The knight motioned softly with his hand for Liadain to come hither, and wheezed out an attempt at song. “In skies of frozen snow, where winds of sadness roam...” he croaked, “the red suns burnin' low. You were my home where I would go, in green fields now unknown...”

  
From behind them, a younger man's voice joined the knight's, the timbre deep and smooth. “Your name upon the standing stone, love invites one last call - when death from life begins to fall...”

 

Liadain gasped, and turned towards the tree line. They were so close to the border of the Moors and the Wall of thorns that she assumed they would be alone. The jocular smile the man gave Liadain was too familiar, and she straightened her spine to appear a mite bit more regal.

 

“How did you know the end to the song?” she asked, curiosity winning over the urge to demand what the stranger meant by interrupting the obviously solemn visitation to the cairn. But as soon as her curiosity was released, Liadain found it burbling forth. “What _is_ that song? _Who are you?”_

 

“-'Tis just an old song,” the knight answered quickly, holding up a hand to stay the young man's response.

 

“-'Tis Maleficent's lament,” the lad replied at the same time, winking at Liadain. “Fer your mam, the sweetest Queen this land e'er known.”

 

The knight drew a hand over his eyes, taking a hefty draught of air to hide a groan.

 

Her mouth frozen in an 'oh,' Liadain shifted from foot to foot in an attempt to ease the discomfort of the long ride, and her subsequent fall.

 

Taking the Princess's expression in, the peasant class man chuckled and gave her a once over with his gaze. “I thought you were the Princess, and I thank ye' for the confirmation. Tho', you donnae have crookshanks like the farmers' wives said...”

 

Lia sputtered at the insinuation, and crossed her arms full on, fists balling up in anger. “I beg your pardon, sir! I most certainly do not have crooked legs!”

 

“Nae, but I ken they aren't strong. I saw you fall from your horse, Princess,” the man shook his head full of nearly raven colored hair, the afternoon light catching the highlights of brown and red. “And I'm no sir. The name is Alasdair, your Highness.”

 

“Alasdair, of Clan...” the old knight questioned, but was cut off by the infuriatingly improper man.

 

“-Jus' Alasdair, Sir knight. Me mam's got afternoon sup goin'. Wouldn't you like to take those old bones nearby a fire, and have a wee bite?” Alasdair's chin jerked behind his shoulder, as he pointed down the ridge to a farmstead about two kilometers away.

 

The only clue that gave it away was the smoke bridging the gap between green grass and sky – that, and Liadain recalled having cut through a farm to reach the Wall of thorns before. She just hadn't come this far north. “And leave me alone? With you?” Lia quipped, affronted at the very idea of being in Alasdair's company.

 

Standing more quickly than Liadain had seen him move since the offer to escort her this morning, the knight unfurled his horse's reins from the tree branch, and mounted. “Aye then, lad. I thank ye for the hospitality.”

 

Liadain scoffed and threw a hand aloft. “Are you to let me be accosted by strange men, when you are supposed to stay with me, good knight?” The very idea sent shivers of fear deep into her belly, but she couldn't very well show it. Arrogance wasn't her forte, but it was the only weapon she had at the moment. Even so, her cheeks burned at having to use such a ruse.

 

With amusement twinkling in his eyes, the knight barked a laugh. “Princess... You are on the verge of an age where e'erything you do will be watched. I'll just be down the hill, then. Come 'n find me when you are ready to head back, and scream yer head off if this simple country lad offends you further.”

 

A simple nudge of his heels against the horse had the knight galloping away, though he yelled a suggestion for good measure before moving too far away for Liadain to hear. “Know your land, Princess! Know the people!”

 

Somehow, Lia knew that the knight didn't mean 'people' as only the definition of the inhabitants in her kingdom.

 

Before she could stop herself, Liadain stomped her foot in annoyance. Unfortunately, it was the very same leg that had been twisted in the stirrup earlier, and she yelped in pain as she fell to her knees. “Confound it! What is it about this place that makes me...” she trailed off, her watery eyes spying Alasdair trying his hardest not to laugh.

 

Wiping away the remnants of the laugh, Alasdair then held up his hands in mock surrender. “I am sorry, Princess. I donnae mean to make fun.” His hand reached down to a satchel on his belt, and Alasdair flipped it open to reveal a length of muslin. “Allow me to be chivalrous, and all that rot.”

 

Liadain wanted to be flippant. She wanted nothing more than to send this man away from her being, so that she could be alone with her Mother for the first time since she was born. She had so many things to tell Aurora, and so many tears to shed in private.

 

It seemed that Alasdair was more nimble than her own mind, for he had already knelt with the muslin ready. For the first time since Lia had laid eyes on him, he seemed shy and overly cautious. “I'll need to uh, have a look at what ails ye'...” he murmured, and pointed at her sore leg.

 

“Oh...” Liadain squeaked, her cheeks getting warmer by the moment. “That is... fine. Fine,” she bit her bottom lip, and raised the hem of her skirts to reveal her leg up to the shin.

 

Without another word, Alasdair gently unlaced and removed her walking shoe, setting it aside. Slowly he wrapped the muslin around her foot, and then made a figure eight to secure her ankle. His callused hands felt rough against her pale skin, and Liadain watched in awe at the quick work.

 

Her eyes widened in alarm as Alasdair's hand moved down her foot, a finger tracing along the bridge and down to her second toe. Lia's breath caught in her chest, and she threw her skirt hem down against the sight.

 

Drawing his hand back slowly, Alasdair looked up at Liadain, his gaze full of confusion and wonder. “I ne'er seen it before, but my granny told me 'bout this.”

 

“About what?” Liadain shook her head, and leaned to put her shoe back on.

 

“Bones like a bird, and toes like sheaves of grass they so delicate-like. The second toe is longer than the big one,” Alasdair pointed at her foot, and took the shoe out of Lia's hand. “You ought not be wearin' shoes, Princess. 'Tis why you fall so.”

 

Whatever her first impressions of the man, Liadain was now convinced he was daft as a loon. “Are you mad, Alasdair of Clan Just Call Me Alasdair?” she laughed, reaching for her shoe again. “I'm not a bird.”

 

“Yer nae human, neither,” Alasdair quipped, and moved the shoe out of Liadain's reach. “Ye weren't meant to walk much. Ye'd be all weebly-wobbly.” An idea burned bright in his eyes, and he snapped his fingers.

 

Standing up, Alasdair ignored Liadain's glowering at his nonsense. From his satchel, he produced a small saw chain, and he began to thank a nearby tree for it's gift.

 

Once finished taking a length of branch about as tall as she, he motioned towards the cairn. “Say what ye' came to say, then. I'll be o'er here, whittling this.”

 

Liadain didn't know what to think now. She slid carefully back towards the cairn, until her back rested against the stacked stones. Alasdair was insistent that she was first a bird, and then not human. Now, he was whistling a sad tune as he hacked at a branch with a knife.

 

“You're crazy... Clear numpty,” Lia whispered, the breeze and her own misgivings raising the hair on the back of her neck. Rubbing at her sleeves in an effort to warm up, she began to pray to her Mother that Alasdair's sanity would return.

 

With keen hearing developed over the years of being raised on the windy highlands, Alasdair heard her, and whispered back. “And you're a faerie, Princess. Half'un, I reckon.”

 

Too afraid to argue with the insane man's thoughts on the subject, Liadain looked out onto Loch Etive and tried to forget the current situation. She would just have to play along until her knight returned, and then this day would be forgotten. Reaching into her own purse, her hand grasped at the feather talisman that had always protected her. Along the spine of the feather her fingertips slid, finding safety and comfort in each silky section of it until she reached the fluffy down at the top.

 

After Alasdair had stripped the bark of the branch, he eyeballed Liadain's height as she sat, and cut a foot off the end. Without further ado, he thrust it at her, his eyes wide. “Here,” he stammered, sounding just as fearful as Liadain felt. “I ask nothing in return.”

 

“Uh,” the Princess looked at the wood stave, and then around her to check for anyone coming to her rescue. Rising to her feet, she grasped the stick and looked to Alasdair. “I thank you. What is it?”

 

Motioning with his hands for Liadain to follow, Alasdair walked backwards. “It's to help you walk. I hear Maleficent always had one, when she didn't have wings.” He stopped close by the tree line, and smiled. His confidence was returning. “Come to me.”

 

“ _Come to me, Lia...”_ an empyrean voice shimmered through the breeze, and Liadain spun around. It sounded kind, and yet it was decidedly not.

 

A gust blew through the highlands, buffeting the trees so that the leaves danced. _“Come to me, my sweet child...”_

 

“And now we run!” Alasdair shouted, reaching for Liadain's hand.

 

 

 

 

* * *

 

1 An Giblean – (Scots Gaelic) the month of April. In the Highlands, April brings a week or so of high pressure weather, warming the ground in preparation for Spring.

2 Paps of 'Anu / The Goddess Danu – (Celtic Mythology) Two mountains said to be the breasts of the Goddess Danu. She was worshiped as the Mother Goddess of the Tuatha De Danann, who are said to have invaded the shores of Scotland from Ireland to bring peace.

 


End file.
